The oldest living things....

The White Mountain area, where we hiked and camped this last weekend, is also the home of the oldest living organisms on the planet – the Bristlecone Pines. These gnarly old trees grow just below the tree line where they don’t have much competition from other species and where, over their 3,000, 4,000 year plus lives, they have developed some very interesting shapes.


The oldest one, known as Methuselah, is around 4,800 years old. It used to be identified as the oldest tree but now the Forest Service have removed all identification since people were apt to want to take home a bit of Methuselah as a trophy.

After our ordeal on White Mountain on Saturday, we hiked around the forest on Sunday. A nice gentle stroll to stretch out our tired legs. At the end of the hike, that Park Ranger showed us a National Geographic Magazine from the 1950's with a picture of the oldest tree, Methuselah. It might be the one shown here with my friend Dave preparing to carve his name in it.



More photos here.